The Bug Butcher Looks like Buster Bros Meets Aliens

When I was a kid, arcade games were everywhere. Pizza parlors, movie theaters, convenience stores — you name it, it had games. My local 7-Eleven, for example, had a Buster Bros machine that I pumped an endless supply of quarters into.

…and that’s why I was so happy this morning to have discovered The Bug Butcher.

Set for a debut on Steam Early Access today with a mobile release to follow sometime down the road, The Bug Butcher looks like the unholy love child of Buster Bros and Contra, by way of Alien Hominid.

Like Buster Bros, The Bug Butcher challenges players to shoot upwards in an attempt to split their targets into smaller and smaller bits until they’ve disappeared. But instead of care-free bubbles, The Bug Butcher’s targets are icky bugs from outer space.

Adding to the familiar Buster Bros-style gameplay are modern must-haves like upgradeable weapons, boss fights, and plenty of power-ups.

If you’re at a desktop and want to support the game’s future development, you can get in on the Early Access experience today. For the rest of us holding out for mobile, sit tight — there’s no release date on the calendar, but Awfully Nice Studios have every intention of coming to touch screen devices too.